The Pentagon is considering scrapping key regulations intended to address sexual assault within the military, according to a memorandum obtained by The Intercept. Advocates for sexual violence prevention and awareness in the armed forces argue that removing these rules would not only potentially violate federal law, it would also have a “chilling effect” on survivors.
On February 19, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies, in coordination with Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency, to review and potentially cancel regulations that the administration might deem unconstitutional, that inhibit innovation, or are too onerous to small businesses, among other grab-bag categories.
In response to Trump’s order “Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Deregulatory Initiative,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Stephen Feinberg called on top officials at more than a dozen Defense Department agencies. Feinberg ordered them to comb through their organizations’ regulations — identified in a spreadsheet attached to the memo — and specify whether any rules flagged in the executive order apply to them and indicate whether they should be altered or rescinded.
One of the regulations under review created the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response program and the Sexual Assault Prevention and Reporting Office, which oversees the SAPR program. SAPR provides military survivors of sexual assault with mental and physical heath care services, advocacy services, and legal assistance. In addition to offering support to victims, the program also provides trainings on how to prevent sexual assault and collects data on sexual violence within the military.
The program and the office implementing it emerged from a 2005 Department of Defense initiative looking into sexual violence in the military. Later that year they were effectively codified by the National Defense Authorization Act, which required the military to create a victims services program. The program was expanded by the 2006 NDAA, with more oversight provided to Congress. Ever since, the Pentagon has been required to provide a comprehensive report on sexual violence and the efforts it is taking to prevent it to Congress.
Experts in military sexual violence argue that while the program is far from perfect, losing it would set justice for survivors back decades. They also raised legal concerns over any efforts to potentially shutter the program, noting that it’s mandated by Congress.
“Framing this like another pointless initiative is dangerous,” said Erin Kirk-Cuomo, co-founder of Not In My Marine Corps, a group of current and former service members working to end sexual violence in the military. “It’s a misunderstanding of number one, the law, and also the lived reality of what it is to be a sexual assault and harassment survivor in a military uniform.”
Kirk-Cuomo said that without SAPR, armed forces culture would revert to the days of the “Tailhook” scandal: an infamous incident of mass sexual violence in the military that sparked national outrage and action. She fears a return to a time when “sexual assault survivors are ignored, inappropriately discharged to silence them, and at worst, pushed into self-harm.”
Even with these regulations in place, sexual violence remains underreported in the military, especially among male service members, said Kirk-Cuomo. The military estimates that in 2023, roughly 29,000 military personnel were sexually assaulted. But research from Brown University suggests that the real number is likely 2.5 times higher than estimated.
A 2021 investigation by The Intercept found that sexual assault of U.S. military personnel in Africa was far more common and widespread than the Pentagon reported to Congress.
Between 2010 and 2020, the Pentagon’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office counted 73 cases of sexual assault in the U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, area of operations. Yet criminal investigation files, obtained by The Intercept via the Freedom of Information Act, show that military criminal investigators logged at least 158 allegations of sexual offenses in Africa during that same period. The case files also revealed that charges of sexual misconduct involving U.S. military personnel occurred in at least 22 countries in Africa, including 13 nations that did not appear in annual Defense Department reports.
“He’s exactly the type of service member who consistently marginalizes the voice of survivors.”
This isn’t the first time the Trump administration has hinted at dismantling SAPR. Earlier this year, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and military leadership rolled out cuts to several SAPR programs, which they later walked back.
Kirk-Cuomo said it isn’t shocking that Hegseth in particular, would have it out for SAPR. “He’s exactly the type of service member who consistently marginalizes the voice of survivors,” she said. Hegseth faced allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2017. He denied it, saying it was consensual. No charges were filed. He has acknowledged paying a settlement to his accuser.
The spreadsheet of regulations under review was developed by the Office of the Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Privacy, Civil Liberties, and Transparency, according to Pentagon spokesperson Eric Pahon. Among those tasked with conducting reviews of their regulations include the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, which oversees the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office; the Office of the Inspector General, the Defense Department’s watchdog; and the departments of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
Feinberg directed officials to complete their review and submit their recommendations by close of business April 18, so it’s too early to tell which regulations might ultimately wind up on the chopping block.
The regulations under review run the gamut, from providing protections to vulnerable individuals and groups to rules necessary to shield national security and safeguard taxpayers from fraud and abuse. These include regulations governing the protection of human subjects in biomedical research, assistance to victims and witnesses of crimes, and defense contracting. The memo comes as Pentagon leadership makes life more difficult for marginalized communities serving in the U.S. military, going so far as to temporarily erase the achievements of nonwhite service members, including Jackie Robinson, from their website.
The Pentagon would not clarify when final determinations on rules to be modified or terminated would take place. “All reviews and decisions on those regulations will be made in accordance with EO 14219,” Pahon told The Intercept, referring to Trump’s February 19 executive order.
Josh Connolly, senior vice president of Protect Our Defenders, said it seems as if the Trump administration is conflating “wokeness” with sexual violence prevention, an issue that impacts service members of all genders. “Just taking him at his word, he doesn’t want women to serve in combat roles. Sounds like [Hegseth] thinks they’ve gotten unfair treatment to their benefit and to the detriment of men in the military,” he said. “And so through that lens, I’m concerned.”
Connolly pointed out that a key part of the regulation requires the military to track incidents of sexual violence, a vital part of taking this issue seriously. “They would truly be sweeping this issue under the rug,” he said, “and it would send a profoundly chilling message to survivors of sexual assault, harassment without question.”
Ultimately, the responsibility to protect this program lies with Congress, said Connolly.
“Congress must play a role in this, because they help set up and stand up this office to begin with,” he said. “This is happening on their watch.”
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